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of any other language than their own patois," in which they chattered with all the vivacity and liveliness so characteristic of the people of the south.

I was quite alone with these mariners, unable alike to understand or be understood by them, but I found them very friendly, and exceedingly anxious to make me as comfortable as their small vessel would allow. An arched cover at one end of the deck served as my cabin, underneath which they provided me with a mattress on which I slept at night; the owner's son, a handsome young Sicilian, kindly gave up this cabin for my use. Here I gathered together all my boxes, and setting my supply of provisions before me, commenced my supper. A picture of St. Lucian, the guardian saint of Syracuse, and another of the Virgin, were pasted upon my humble bedboard; an earthen lamp shed sufficient light to illuminate my little abode, but the extreme heat soon drove me outside the door, and I sat upon the deck in a flood of moonlight, where I finished my repast with some delicious pomegranates which the young Sicilian presented to me. All of a sudden the whole crew commenced singing, and continued to do so with great spirit for a considerable time. The effect was novel and unexpected, but until long after midnight they made such a noise that I found it impossible to get any sleep; however, at length they grew tired, and wrapping themselves up in their huge Sicilian cloaks and drawing the hoods over their heads, one after another lay down to sleep, and all was again still save the rippling of the waves on the moonlit sea. Behind my cabin was a recess like the back seat of a coach, in which the helmsman sat, and steered the vessel; a small window opened into it, through which I supplied him with some supper of bread and hard eggs, with a few figs. The only means of getting into this recess was by climbing over the roof of my little domicile; for the genius of invention is not so much patronized among the Sicilians, as it is in our own country, of which I afterwards met with several ludicrous examples.

The morning brought a calm;—the clear sunlight shone over the glossy sea, and the breeze during the night had speeded our progress, so that the shores of Sicily were now in sight, though almost shrouded by the warm haze of morning. This soon cleared away, and the island of Passaro, with a long line of coast, shone brightly beneath the deep blue sky of noon. Our men now took to their oars, not pulling them as we do, but standing up and pushing them forward, singing all the while, and modulating their voices to every stoke. Feeling hungry, I went to my basket, and got out some sausages which I wished to have cooked. I held them up to the Captain, and said, "Rosto, Capitano; " he took them away, as I supposed, to fry them on a square fire place resembling a small altar, which stood on the deck at the other end of the boat. Presently I heard a frizzling sound, and the little boy laid me a clean cloth on the top of a box, and brought me a plate, and some wine with a tremendous glass tumbler of water, nearly a foot high. This completed, I began

to look anxiously for my sausages, when, to my surprise, the plate came back filled with salt fish, swimming in olive oil. I conjectured of course that they had made an honest exchange, and quietly sat down to eat the fish, which was not over and above palatable ;-when I had finished, the sausages were brought in, hot and smoking, to my great astonishment, as I had concluded that they were all devoured. I sent them back again to the generous folks at the other end of the boat, from whom I received a profound "Grazie, Seigneur," which I answered by an equal sincere "Padrone." The salt and pepper box amused me exceedingly; at first I thought it was an antique, and fell into a train of meditations which carried me back to the days of Hiero and Dionysius; but I afterwards discovered that it was the manufacture of the present age, though certainly as worthy of a place in the British Museum as the club of a Fejee savage, or the war-triton of a South Sea islander. The dress of the Sicilian mariners consists of white native cotton, the trowsers are full, something like those of the Greeks, and turned up at the knees; their feet are bare, and they seldom wear any covering on the head. Capo Passaro, the south-eastern promontory of Sicily, is a low rocky island, and not in reality a cape. When viewed from the sea, it has a barren appearance, with a few shrubby plants growing here and there upon it; and, like Malta, it seemed quite parched up beneath the burning sky. The heat at noon was excessive, and I was obliged to retire under the shade of my cabin roof, where I lay down and attempted to sleep, but the extreme liveliness of a number of young cockroaches running in all directions over the cabin, totally defeated my purpose. At sunset it was calm and cool, and I resumed my box and tablecloth outside the cabin, to make an evening meal of fruit. My little barefooted page waited on me with the greatest attention, for which I rewarded him with the remainder of my stock of provisions, reserving only a few branches of grapes for a "dejeuner" in the morning. The sun set over the Sicilian mountains, bathing that lovely country in its warm and glowing light; and, nearly at the same moment, up rose the full moon, pale and cold, from the deep blue eastern sea. The town of Noto presented a picturesque appearance on the rising hills, and several scattered villages were sprinkled about near the shore. Along this coast is a tunny fishery, famous for the excellency of the fish, and the large size to which they attain. The flesh of the tunny is much used as an article of food by the inhabitants, and when salted greatly resembles in flavour the Gorgona anchovies. Very far distant, and but just distinguishable in the haze of the evening atmosphere, the mighty Etna, now called Mongibello, rose proudly to the sky, forming an eternal beacon by which the mariner may steer his way through the halcyon seas that wash its widely-spread base. Some time afterthe last red streak died away in the west, I continued sitting on the top of my little cabin, till the dew warned me to retire beneath it; and I exchanged the pensive light of the moon, and the refreshing air of the evening

breeze, for the close atmosphere, and the rustic lamp of my night-quarters, where I again lay down to sleep. The Sicilians were sitting around a lage dish on the deck, out of which they were eating their supper very quietly with wooden spoons, when suddenly they all jumped up, and throwing aside their heavy cloaks, took to the oars, and began to sing with all their might. This chorus, as before, continued with some intervals during the night; but, as I was more reconciled to their noises, it did not prevent my sleeping. Their mode of singing is peculiar; one of the party makes a kind of sharp hissing noise, modulating his voice to the music, whilst the rest roar out with the most stentorian lungs imaginable; and it is not unusual for them to complete the effect with a shrill scream. Several commenced dancing at the same time, and altogether they seemed as light of heart as their Greek ancestors at the Olympian games, though probably their music has rather degenerated since the days of classic story. At early daybreak, Syracuse was in sight before us. The modern town of Siragusa, on the island of Ortygia, is now all that remains of its ancient glory; but the noble harbour, the spacious plains, the gently swelling hills, the towering mountains, they are still the same; and it only requires a slight effort of the imagination to bring back its hundred marble palaces, its magnificent temples, fanes, and statues, and to repeople the silent wastes with the teeming population of ancient Greece. It must, indeed, have been a splendid city; but its ashes sleep amidst the wrecks of time, and the sun of its glory is set for ever; though its climate is such that, in nature, Cicero's remark still holds good, "that there never was a day at Syracuse, on some portion of which the sun did not shine."

As we approached the entrance of the harbour we met several boats piled up with immense tunny nets, made of wicker work, on their way out to the fishery. The singular appearance of these boats added to the picturesque character of the scene; and on passing the southern promontory of the bay, I observed a number of the natives busily employed upon the rocks in pursuit of shell-fish. Presently our fairy bark was at anchor, where the fleets of the Romans had anchored before us, and the mighty inventions of Archimedes had been called into practice to defeat the common enemy of the world. A beautiful panorama was stretched around us, canopied beneath the azure heavens; and the sleeping waters of the Grand Harbour were so clear and still, that its bed of long green sea-weed was distinctly visible beneath the spot where we lay. The owner's son, after securing a number of letters inside his stockings, exchanged his mariner's dress for the costume of a Sicilian gentleman; and when I had got my things in readiness we stepped into the boat, and the whole company rowed ashore to the custom-house, where we had to undergo the scrutiny of the pratique officers. After a delay of about an hour, during which time my passport was inspected by the various authorities, we returned again to the speronaro, guarded by two dogans, or Neapolitan soldiers, with an officer of the

custom-house, to examine my baggage. Whilst this operation was going forward the gleam of a small pin that I wore in my handkerchief attracted the attention of the officer, and seemed to take his fancy amazingly. He pointed to it with his finger, exclaiming "bellissimo! bellissimo;" and, at the same moment, drew from his own cravat an enormous gold brooch, containing dark-coloured crystals. These he intimated to me were from Mongibello, (Mount Etna,) and after putting it into my hand endeavoured to explain to me that he wished for an exchange. I did not understand him at first; but afterwards, by the aid of an Italian phrase-book, I managed to decline his offer, and retain my bauble, without in any way offending the officer, who bowed politely, and replaced the crystal brooch in his bosom. The custom-house is situated close to the water's edge, leading down to which is a broad flight of steps covered with carpet, on which we landed. To the right is a cluster of fig-trees, and on the left, towards the entrance of the town, is a level promenade, planted with weeping willows and shady pimento-trees, beneath which are several seats interspersed with flowers. The famous fountain of Arethusa empties itself into the sea about half a dozen yards from the custom-house, in the form of an insignificant channel, running underground, and falling from a stone trough which serves as a tank, where a solitary washerwoman was rinsing her linen. The original site of the fountain, however, is a little higher up, within the walls of the town, from whence this stream issues to flow into the harbour. tarily exclaimed, "O Syracuse, how art thou fallen!"

Here I paused, and involun

EN

RIVERS ANAPUS AND PAPYRUS-TEMPLE OF JUPITER OLYMPUS, AND THE FONTE CIANE.

"And nearer to the river's trembling edge,

There grew broad flag-flowers, purple prankt with white,

And starry river-buds among the sedge,

And floating water-lilies, broad and bright,

Which lit the oak that overhung the hedge

With moonlight beams of their own watery light;
And bulrushes, and reeds of such deep green

As soothed the dazzled eye with sober sheen."

I HAD no sooner landed than one of the "dogans," or soldiers, led me to the authorities of the Neapolitan Government, and gave me to understand that I must pay them my "devoirs" for the services which it was supposed they had rendered me. This I accordingly did, and after a number of formal bows and bends on both sides, I was most graciously dismissed, and permitted to enter the town with my luggage. I now found myself in a strange country, just entering a city, every street of which was unknown to me; and what was worse, without a single person who could speak even a few words of English. I was possessed of a letter of introduction to the British Consul, who is a Maltese by birth, and after a short delay I proceeded to his residence, accompanied by the young Sicilian who had been my friend on board the speronaro. I found the Consul at home, but could get very little information from him; and as my chief desire was to visit as many of the antiquities in the neighbourhood as possible, I declined his invitation to call upon him on the following morning. My next object was to procure an intelligent guide; and as I had been recommended to Signor Polité, by my friend, Dr. H., of London, I set off in quest of him. At first I could not make myself understood, but afterwards a sailor was brought to me who had been many years ago in England, having served on board a man-of-war, and with his assistance as interpreter I explained my purposed errand. Passing through a number of narrow miserable looking streets, we arrived at last before the domicile of the Polités. The person recommended to me by Dr. H. was by profession an artist, and one well acquainted with all the antique treasures around Syracuse;

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